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U 



Photographing 
in Old Lngland 



BY 

W. I. LINCOLN ADAMS 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND: 

With some Snap Shots in Scotland and Wales. Illus- 
trated with photographs from nature by the author and 
others. 4to, cloth, decorated, full gilt, in box . $2.50 



WOODLAND AND MLADOW: 

Out-of-Door Papers, written on a New Hampshire farm. 
Illustrated. Uniform with above .... $2.50 
Out of Print 



IN NATURL'5 IMAGE.: 

Chapters on Pictorial Photography. Richly illustrated. 

Uniform with above $2.50 

Only a few copies left 



SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW: 

A book for Photographers. Illustrated by original pho- 
tographs from nature. A new edition, third thousand. 
4lo, cloth, decorated, full gilt, in box . . . $2.50 



AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY: 

A Practical Guide for the Beginner. Illustrated. Royal 

8vo. Paper 50 cents. Cloth $1.00 

Out of Print 



Published by 

THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY 

33 Union Square, New York 



PHOTOGRAPHING 

IN OLD ENGLAND 

With 5ome 5nap 5hots 
in Scotland and Wales 




W. I. LINCOLN 



Editor of The Photographic Times 

Author of "Sunlight and Shadow" 

"In Nature's Image," etc. etc. 



Illustrated with Photographs from Nature, 
by the Author and Others 



...0 






COPYRIGHTLD 1910 BY 

THL BAKE.R & TAYLOR COMPANY 

NF.W YORK 



PRESS OF STYLES & CASH, NEW YORK 



ICI,A268988 



TO MY WIFL 

AND DAUGHTLR LLIZABLTH 

COMPANIONS OF MY JOURNE.Y5 

IN OLD ENGLAND 



PRLFACL 



THE following chapters on Photographing in Old England 
were written as letters to the readers of The PJioto- 
graphic Times during the summer of 1909. 

They were illustrated for the most part, by photographs 
made on the trips which they described, though some of the very 
best pictures are the product of other cameras other than my own. 
I am particularly indebted to Mr. G. P. Abraham of Keswick, for 
some of the most beautiful illustrations, of which mention is 
made in the chapter which they embellish. A few of the other 
photographs were obtained in the local shops when weather, or 
other conditions prevented me from using my own camera. 

My pictures are merely what are rather aptly called "snap- 
shots," and are not put forward as examples of excellence in 
photography; but, for the most part, represent only the average 
exposures of a foreign traveler, often of necessity made with con- 
siderable haste, and not always under the most favorable condi- 
tions of light, atmosphere, or even of the point of view. Some 
are made with more precision, of course, and occasionally a tripod 
was used. But of this and other practical considerations, I speak 
at more length in the final chapter of the book. 

The letters themselves were written without literary pre- 
tense, often at the end of a day of travel, while the facts which 
they record were fresh in mind. Their author has no illusions as 
to their literary value, and collected them for book publication at 
the request of a number of his magazine readers, in order, par- 
ticularly, to preserve the pictures in a more convenient and 
permanent form. 

W. I. Lincoln Adams. 

New York City. 
May, 1910. 



CONTLNTS 

PREFACE 9 

FIRST LETTER. 
I*"rom Windsor to Oxford, on the Thames 13 

SECOND LETTER. 
In Shakespeare's Country 23 

THIRD LETTER. 
In the Land of the Doones 35 

FOURTH LETTER. 
Clovelly . . . -43 

FIFTH LETTER. 
Motoring Through Wales 51 

SIXTH LETTER. 
Coaching Through the English Lake Country . . . " . 61 

SEVENTH LETTER. 
In Scotland 73 

EIGHTH LETTER. 
English Cathedrals . . -83 

NINTH LETTER. 
London 93 

IN CONCLUSION. 
Some Practical Hints and Suggestions for Photographing Abroad 103 

10 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 







PAGE 


Magdalen College from the Cherwell, Oxford ..... 2 


Bridge at Henley ...... 










15 


Swans on the Thames ..... 










15 


The Old Norman Gate in Windsor Castle 










16 


Windsor Castle from the Thames . 










17 


Old City Wall at New College, Oxford . 










18 


Cricket Match at Oxford .... 










21 


Ann Hathaway's Cottage .... 










24 


Holy Trinity Church 










, 25 


Warwick Castle from the Avon 










26 


Stratford-on-Avon ...... 










27 


Shakespeare's Birthplace .... 










■27 


Lady Warwick ...... 










28 


Interior of Shakespeare's House . 










29 


The Ruins of Kenilworth Castle 










30 


The -Center of England ..... 










31 


The Shakespeare Hostelrie of "Ye Five Gables" 










32 


The Doone Valley . ■ . 










36 


On the Cliff Walk 










Z7 


Lynton and Lynmouth ..... 










38 


The Water Slide, Doone Valley . 










39 


Castle Rock, on the North Coast of Devon 










40 


A Devonshire Lane ...... 










41 


Ragged Jack ....... 










42 


High Street. Clovelly 










44 


Clovelly ........ 










46 


The Entrance to the Town .... 










47 


The Rose Cottage ...... 










48 


A Side Stairway ...... 










50 


Snowdon from the Pinnacles (by G. P. Abraham) 










52 


Llanberis Pass ...... 










53 


Conway Castle ...... 










54 


Swallow Fjalls 










55 


Welsh Landscape near Chester 










56 


The Old .Castle at Hawarden .... 










57 


Chester, the Old Wall, and King Charles' Tower 










58 



II 



A Welsh Cottage 

Coniston Lake from Beacon Craig (by G. P. Abraham) 
Wythburn Church ....... 

The Home of the Swans, Wray Castle, Windermere (by G. P. Abraham) 

Rydal Mount, Wordsworth's House (by G. P. Abraham) 

Old Mill at Ambleside (by G. P. Abraham) . 

"Brantwood," Ruskin's House at Coniston (by G. P. Abraham) 

Great Gable — The Needle Arete (by G. P. Abraham) 

Yewbarrow, Wast Water 

Derwent Bridge (by G. P. Abraham) . 

Ruins of Melrose Abbey .... 

Abbots ford 

Holyrood Palace and Arthur's Seat 

The Trossachs, "Where Twines the Path 

Brig o' Forth and Crag Mohr . 

A Highland Cottage 

Oban Harbor by Twilight 

Cottages near St. Boswell's . 

Ely Cathedral, West Tower . 

Canterbury Cathedral 

York Minster from the City Wall 

Durham Cathedral . 

York Minster Towers 

Interior of Lincoln Cathedral . 

York Minster .... 

Central Tower and North Transept 

Chester Cathedral from the Churchyard . 

Nelson Monument, Trafalgar Square 

Houses of Parliament 

In Rotten Row 

Thames Embankment, from Hungerford Bridge 

Westminster Abbey 

St. Paul's Cathedral 

London Tower and Bridge 

Loch Katrine and Ben Venue 

Ann Hathaway's Gate 

Lynmouth 

Taken while it Rained 

Melrose Abbey 

London Cabs . 



Lincoln Cathedral 



PAGE 

59 
62 

63 

64 

65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 
74 

75 
76 

77 
78 

79 
80 
82 
84 
85 
85 
86 

87 
88 
89 
90 
91 
94 
95 
95 
96 

97 
98 

99 
104 

105 
107 
109 
III 
112 



12 



From Windsor to Oxford 
on the Thames 



FIRST LLTTLR 



FROM WINDSOR TO OXFORD ON THL THAMES 




Bridge at Henley. 



HE entire trip from London to Oxford, on the 
famous river Thames, is an interesting one, 
and well worth the two days required for 
making it; but that portion of the historic 
old stream which presents the most pic- 
turesque subjects for the camera, lies be- 
tween Windsor and Henley, a distance of 
some twenty-five miles. 

We therefore proceeded to Windsor 
by rail, which afforded us ample time, be- 
fore the little river steamer left in the afternoon for Henley, to see 
the historic old castle, with its more modern palace, the very ex- 
tensive and beautiftil park, and to make a number of photographs 
there while the light was right 
for them. 

Parts of Windsor castle 
are exceedingly old, there be- 
ing present indications of the 
earth-works, around the cen- 
tral "Round Tower," or cita- 
del, which were thrown up by 
the Romans after their con- 
quest of Britain before the 
Christian Era. William, the 
Norman Conqueror, built a cas- 
tle at Windsor in the eleventh 
century, but the oldest part of the present castle, which is still largely 
used in connection with the palace, as a residence by the reigning 





Swans on the Thames. 



15 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

house of England, representing additions and alterations by many 
monarchs, dates from Edward III. Tlie modern restoration of the 
palace was begun by George IV, and finished under the late Queen 
Victoria, at a total cost of nearly five million dollars. 

I chose for my first picture at Windsor, the half page illustra- 
tion presented herewith, showing the old Norman Gateway (at the 
left) which is inside the old castle walls, and also (at the right) part 




The Old Norman Gate in Windsor Castle. 



of the ancient central Tower, with remains of the Roman earth- 
works around its base. 

The picture of the palace exterior which is perhaps most often 
seen in this country, is the view of it from the famous ''Long Walk," 
from any part of which an impressive vista is presented between 
the magnificent old elm trees. It can be distinctly seen from the 
very end of this royal walk, three miles distant. But I preferred 
the view which shows the entire palace and castle, from the banks 
of the Thames, as having greater pictorial value. Accordingly I 
use that picture to illustrate this letter. 

16 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

The picturesque Towers of Eton College, across the river from 
Windsor, make an attractive distant picture; while in the extreme 
distance, about four miles away, may be seen, in Stoke Pogis, the 
ancestral home of William Penn, near which he now lies buried, 
with his kindred. 

As we leave Windsor and gently steam up the river, we pass 
Noble country villas, on either bank, with highly developed grounds 
and charming gardens, extending to the very water's edge. House- 
boats are moored to the banks, in cozy sheltered places, in which 
whole families, and, indeed, quite large house parties, are made 
extremely comfortable. The river itself is very gay, and full of life 
and color, on a fair day like this, with "punts," barges, shallops, and 
motor boats. We pass lock after lock, on our winding journey, all 
perfectly kept, and brilliant with many-colored flower beds and 
gardens. 

The sun shines in England, even in summer, on an average of 
not more than one day in the seven; so that photographing, when 




Windsor Castle from the Thames. 



17 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 







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Old City Wall at New College. Oxford. 



skies are blue and clouds are fleecy white, with shadows broad and 
transparent, is not often possible here. Fortune smiled on us on 
this occasion, however, and I was able to make a number of pleasant 
snapshots from the deck of our little steamer, and from the river 
banks, when we stopped at the locks. The initial letter illustration 
is one of these, showing the bridge at Henley near which is the boat 
house of the famous Leander club. Another shows a group of 
swans, which are very numerous along the entire length of the 
Thames. 

And so we glide on, past Cliveden, that noble seat which Mr. 
W. W. Astor purchased from the Duke of Westminster and pre- 
sented to his son. It stands on a wooded eminence several hundred 
feet above the river and where a bend in the stream gives a view of 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

it many miles in extent. Then we pass on to the quaint old town of 
Marlow (pronomiced "Morrow") "the Mecca of fishermen," and 
where dear old Izaak Walton himself used to angle. The ex- 
cellent Inn here is called, after his classic, "The Complete Angler." 

At Henley we complete our trip for the day, but there was still 
sufficient light on these long English summer afternoons to make 
the pictures referred to above, which illustrate this letter. The 
bridge here is a most pictorial subject; so, too, is the Red Lion Inn, 
where we lay for the night. As it happened this excellent old Inn 
was full on this occasion, and the "Manageress," who presides over 
every well-regulated English Inn, had a bed put up for me in the 
private sitting room on the second floor. This was the room which 
King Charles I used as his royal bed chamber, when he visited 
Henley, as he frec[uently did; and when the old house was done over 
in 1889 they found on the wall, over the mantel in this room, an 
excellent fresco of the royal arms, which was made in 1632. 

The next day the trip was resumed to Oxford ; but from Henley 
on, the scenery is scarcel}^ so interesting and picturesque as it is 
below that pretty town, though it is full of charm the entire length 
of the river. Our first outing in Oxford was on the classic Cher- 
well. The sun was kind for only a few minutes at a time on this 
occasion, but it stayed out long enough for the coveted view of 
Magdalen (pronounced "Maudlin") College Tower, and the Bridge, 
from the river, which is used as the frontispiece to this letter. 

The next day was not so favorable, as is shown by the much 
softer picture of the Old City Wall at New College. But nothing 
can be more picturesque in nature, than this fragment of the old 
city wall, now in ruins, and overgrown with ivy and other luxuriant 
English vegetation. Oxford is a very old city, dating back to the 
nunnery of Saxon St. Frideswide, which was probably founded as 
early as in the Eighth Century. The University is supposed to have 
been established by the good King Alfred in 972 and the town was 
an important military stronghold during the Danish wars of in- 
vasion, the struggle with the Normans, and the various civil strifes 
which occurred in England at a later period of its interesting his- 

19 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

tory. The name is a corruption of Oxenford, referring to the fact 
that, in earUer, ruder times, it was accessible only by an oxen ford 
across the historic river. 

Oxford is literally teeming with the most delightful subjects 
for a hungry camera. I made a great many exposures while here, 
though space will permit of showing only two or three of my pic- 
tures. But I must refer to the one I made of a cricket match be- 
tween two crack university teams, for the game seemed so tame 
and slow as compared with our own national sport of baseball that 
I could not but wonder why it should have taken so strong a hold on 
the British youth. 

For instance, the ball is delivered to the batsman, on the bound, 
and the bat itself is a large, flat, blade-like instrument, with which 
one would have great difficulty in niissiug the ball, as it seems to 
the on-looker. As a matter of fact the ball is rarely missed, and 
runs are made on foul balls, as well as on fair ones. As a con- 
sequence the scores are enormous, frequently reaching several hun- 
dred runs. 

The ball is thrown from the field, also, so that it reaches the 
player on the bound; and to an outsider, at least, there appears to 
be no fast, snappy plays such as characterize a closely contested 
baseball match. Cricket seemed a very lady-like sort of sport to 
me, I must confess, without difficult plays and sharply contested 
points. The game progresses leisurely throughout an afternoon, 
and, at five o'clock, all the players repair to pavilion or refresh- 
ment tent nearby, and have tea. Then the game is resumed in the 
same leisurely fashion until dark. Often two or three days are re- 
c[uired to conclude a match. It seemed to me like a game which 
belonged rather to the class of croquet than as an athletic sport for 
young collegians. 

But English people of every class are enthusiastic over cricket, 
and have been so for many generations. It is undoubtedly the 
national athletic sport and must possess attractions undiscernible by 
the outsider. The players, all in immaculate white flannels, on a 
closely cropped green lawn, at least make a very gay and pretty pic- 

20 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

ttire, which, however, does not photograph very well, particularly 
when taken from the distance at which I was obliged to stand, as is 
shown in the tail piece illustration to this letter. 

I was loth to leave Oxford, for I realized the charm of the 
place referred to by Hawthorne in "Our Old Home," where he said: 
"The world, surely, has not another place like Oxford; it is a despair 
to see such a place and ever to leave it, for it would take a lifetime 
and more than one, to comprehend and enjoy it satisfactorily." 




.,|i,,i, 






ft I 



Cricket Match at Oxford. 



21 



In Shakespeare s Country 



5LCOND LLTTLR 



IN 5HAKL5PEARL'5 COUNTRY 




Holy Trinity Church. 



Y FIRST letter in this series was dispatched 
from the university town of Oxford, from 
whence we proceeded to the Royal Spa of 
Leamington, not that we desired the mineral 
waters or baths of that attractive place 
( though we took both ! ) , but because it is so 
centrally situated for short excursions to 
stately old Warwick Castle, the picturesque 
ruins of Kenilworth, Stratfo'rd-on-Avon and 
the country thereabout, made famous by the 
immortal bard of the Anglo-Saxon race. 
It is but a short trip by coach from Leamington to the his- 
toric old town of Warwick, with its famous castle, which is one of 
the finest and most picturesque feudal residences in all England. 
Its strange, eventful history is said to run back to the days of 
Ethelfleda daughter of the Saxon King Alfred, who is supposed to 
have commenced its construction — more than one thousand years 
ago. The quaint old town itself is even older than that, having 
been originally a British settlement which was afterward occupied 
by the Romans. Many of the old buildings retain their mediaeval 
appearance, and two of its old gates are still standing. Pictorial 
subjects enough here for the camera, and to spare. 

But we made so many exposures at Kenilworth, Stratford, and 
elsewhere in this picturescjue country, that I have selected only one 
of the Warwick views for reproduction here. It is the picture of 
the castle from the bridge which crosses the Avon at this point. 
It does not show much of the castle itself, but the river, the trees 
and their reflection in it, combine to make up a pleasing composition 



25 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 





Warwick Castle from the Avon. 

as it seems to me. But the most beautiful thing about Warwick 
is the Lady Warwick ! A superb picture of her by Carolus Duran, 
and another even more beautiful, b}^ our own great Sargent, adorn 
the castle walls. I send a small reproduction of one. 

Another day we drove to Kenilworth Castle, which is still 
beautiful in its ruins. It is probably the finest and most extensive 
baronial ruin in the country. It was originally founded by the 
chamberlain of King Henry First, Geoffrey de Clinton, about 1120, 
and was the scene of many desperate encounters through the stormy 
period of English history. It was not so fortunate as Warwick 
Castle, however, in being held by a "King Maker" at one time of 
warfare, and by a friend of Cromwell at another; for, though it 
once held out for half a year against a determined siege, it finally 
fell to the Parliamentarians, who scattered its costly collections 
and demolished its stately pile. Here it was that the Earl of 



26 



5tratford-on-Avon. 



Shakespeare's Birthplace. 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Lady Warwick. 

Leicester entertained Queen Elizabeth, whose chief favorite he was, 
in 1575, as described so fascinatingly by Sir Walter Scott in his 
historical romance of the same name. I give one picture of the old 
ruins, which shows nearly all _of the castle proper, though framed in 
and partly covered by the trees and bushes surrounding it. 

And now we come to Stratford-on-Avon, the most interesting, 
as it is most rich in pictorial subjects, of all the places we have yet 
visited with the camera. The first illustration of Stratford is a 
general view, showing Holy Trinity Church in the distance, where 
Shakespeare lies buried, and the graceful river Avon in the fore- 



28 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




The Ruins of Kenilworth Castle. 

ground flowing by it. This picture I purchased of Mr. WilHam 
Stanton at "Ye Five Gables," and it seems to me a particularly ex- 
cellent one. 

The frontispiece is rather an unusual view of Ann Hathaway's 
cottage across the fields, in Shottery. Here it was that Master 
William used to come a-courting in "the good old times." Most 
pictures of the gentle Ann's cottage which I have seen in this coun- 
try are taken from the road in front, which shows rather a stifle 
English hedge that makes a hard line across the foreground. This 
picture is taken from the attractive garden within the hedge, and 
gives what seems to me a more pictorial side view of the old 
thatched-roof cottage. 

The initial letter illustration is a near view of Holy Trinity 
Church taken from the river, without a tripod, of course. And 
so was the picture of Shakespeare's birthplace taken. The room 



;o 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




The Center of Lngland. 

in which the poet was born is behind the second window from the 
left, on the second floor, immediately over the doorway. On that 
window are inscribed the names of many noted men and poets, in- 
cluding a large number of Americans. There are still to be seen 
the signatures of Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Brown- 
ing, Washington Irving, and many others. They say that more 
than one quarter of the thirty thousand pilgrims who annually visit 
this shrine, are our fellow-countrymen. 

The full page illustration showing the interior of Shakespeare's 
library, with his own arm chair directly opposite the beholder, in 



31 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




m m 

The Shakespeare Hostelrie of "Ye Five Gables." 



the center of the picture, is from a photograph which I purchased 
for this purpose; as I had not the proper lens and outfit for this 
work, even if they would have allowed me to photograph these. The 
library contains many old books, MSS., and pictures, besides the 
furniture, of the greatest interest to Shakespearean students and 
lovers. 

There are at least three places in Old England where the An- 
glo-Saxon, whether of the English or the American branch of the 
race, is very likely to experience an emotion, when he stands for 
the first time. And one place is that little upper chamber of the 
old house on Henley Street, Stratford, where the immortal bard 
of all English-speaking peoples was born, in 1564. Another 
place is the historic old Abbey in AVestminster, London, where 
so many of the noble dead of our race lie buried. And a third 
place is the little island in the River Thames where the barons 

32 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

reqiiired King John to sign the Great Charter which gave to 
Anglo-Saxons their first constitution. We passed that island 
on the river journey described in my first letter. Of West- 
minster I shall speak in a latter communication. In this letter 
I give a picture of Shakespeare's birthplace, which to me is the 
most interesting single spot to visit in all of England. I wish I 
might give a picture also of the low roof, humble interior; but the 
interior of the poet's library will have to suffice. 

The remaining picture, not before mentioned, is of the hand- 
some old oak tree, which one passes on the way from Leamington 
to Kenilworth, and said to stand in the very center of England. I 
made a number of exposures on our return trips from Kenilworth 
to Stratford, particularly of Guy's Cliff, and the beautiful old 
castle there, and the old Saxon Mill near by, which is supposed to 
be the oldest in all England; but space will not permit of more il- 
lustrations to this letter. We are now going to the picturesque 
country of North Devon, in the West of England, where I shall 
visit and photograph in the Land of the Doones, about which T 
shall write in my next letter. 




In the Land of the Doones 




THIRD fILLTTLR 



IN THL LAND OF THL DOONL5 




On the Cliff Walk 



E CAME from Stratford-on-Avon ("In 
Shakespeare's Country") to the beautiful 
country of North Devon, in the west of Eng- 
land, bordering- on the Bristol Channel, and 
here we have seen and photographed probably 
the wildest, grandest, and most picturesque 
scenery in all rural England. It is a com- 
bination of mountain landscape, rising over 
a thousand feet from the sea; rugged coast 
line with majestic "combes" or fiords sug- 
gesting, and equal in grandeur to, the noted 
ones of Norway; and rolling moors and 
downs, covered with heath, and gracefully 
undulating as far as the eye can reach. 

My first illustration shows the little seaport town of Lyn- 
mouth at the foot of the hill, and the village of Lynton, high up on 
the mountain itself. Here it was we made our headc[uarters, as 
it is a particularly beautiful situation, within easy walking and 
driving distance of the places of greatest attraction. One of the 
world's famous walks encircles the headland in this picture, cut out 
of sheer cliff, with no parapet, or retaining wall, and winding along 
the mountain side hundreds of feet above the sea. M}^ initial let- 
ter illustration suggests, but does not adequately portray the sub- 
limity of the view from these dizzy heights. 

Farther along, after passing through the wild scenery of "The 
Valley of Rocks," the driveway itself extends out upon the cliff and 
ascends the mountain's side in like manner, many hundred feet 
above the sea. This drive has been compared to the famous 
Axentrasse along the mountain edge, at Lake Lucerne in Switzer- 
land, but to me (who have photographed on both), the cliff* drive 



37 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 



-^'mixf"^ 




Lynton and Lynmouth. 



from Lynton in North Devon, is the .more wonderful, both as an 
engineering feat in road-building, and in the grandeur and sublimity 
of the scenery which it affords. 

In North Devon, not far from Lynton, is Exmoor, the Land of 
the Doones, made interesting for all time by the genius of Black- 
more in his great novel, entitled "Lorna Doone." But apart from 
the literary and historical associations of Exmoor, this country is 
well worthy a visit for pictorial reasons, particularly by photog- 
raphers. Gainsborough, the famous English painter, said it was 
"the most delightful place for a landscape painter this country 
could boast." 

Badgeworthy Valley is really a very beautiful glen, in fact the 
most interesting in all Exmoor. From the green bottoms the land 
rises on either side two or three hundred feet high, to the moors 
above. It is in fact very like the picture which Blackmore draws of 
the Doone Valley and much more like his description than the out- 



38 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




The Water 51ide, Doone Valley 



laws' haunt itself. Indeed one must be prepared for some disap- 
pointment in visiting this glen where the stalwart John Kidd wooed 
the fair Lorna. 

Readers of the romance will remember how John went poach- 
ing up the Badgeworthy stream, and first came upon the Doone Val- 
ley. After wading some distance he reached a water slide coming in 
from the right. He tells the story himself as follows: "I stood 
at the foot of a long pale slide of water, coming smoothly to me 
without any break or hindrance, for a hundred yards or more, and 
fenced on either side with cliff, sheer and straight and shining. 
The water neither ran nor fell, nor leaped with any spouting, but 
made one even slope of it, as if it had been combed or planed and 
looking like a plank of deal laid down a deep black staircase. How- 
ever, there was no side rail nor any place to walk upon, only the 
channel a fathom wide, and the perpendicular walls of crag shutting 



out the evening." 



39 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Castle Rock, on the North Coast of Devon. 

There was a big black pool at the foot of this slide, and, after 
being nearly swept away into this and drowned by the strength of 
the down rush, John finally managed to gain the top of the slide, 
more dead than alive, and almost unconscious. When he recovered 
he found himself in a deep, almost inaccessible glen, with a little 
maiden tending him. This little maiden was Lorna Doone, who 
had been carried awa}^ by the outlaws inhabiting this wild glen, and 
who lived here by preying on the people in the neighboring country- 
side. 

How John grew to love this little maiden, how she showed him 
her bower in the rocks, and the secret track or "warpath" over the 
walls of the glen, how he visited her again and again, at the peril of 
his life, how he finally carried her ofif when the outlaws were going 



40 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




A Devonshire Lane. 

to marry her to their chief, and then at the head of his neighbors 
finally captured their stronghold and exterminated them, the reader 
must find in the magic pages of Blackmore's great book. We are 
more particularly concerned with the pictures of the place as they 
appear in nature at present. 

The illustration of the Badgeworthy Valley is a fairly satis- 
factory one ; but the water slide will be seen to scarcely come up to 
Blackmore's rather idealized description of it in his romance. The 
foundations of the Doone's huts may still be seen in the Doone 
Valley, though they do not make a particularly attractive picture. 
Descendants of John Kidd are actually living in Exmoor at present ; 
but the Doones seem to have been literally exterminated; though 
the traditions of their terrible strength and cruelty still linger in 
the neighborhood, notwithstanding that it was more than two hun- 
dred years ago that these bandits lived and committed their re- 
volting crimes here. 



41 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

Another most picturesque place in this country is the Httle sea- 
port town of Clovelly, with its central street rising from the sea 
by a series of steps, almost like a stairway. This is a famous place 
for artists, and the picture of High street has been reproduced on 
canvas and by lens and camera a great many times. The half-page 
picture of "A Devonshire Lane" is by some photographer unknown 
to me, as I purchased it in a shop. My picture of the same cozy 
cottage lacks the sheep, and so misses the finishing touch in the fore- 
ground. The tail piece was made by me on the cliff walk near 
Lynton, and shows "Ragged Jack," a picturesque old landmark on 
the North Coast of Devon. 

In a few days we shall cross the Bristol Channel, to Cardiff, 
in Wales, and then proceed by rail and coach through that country 
of beautiful scenery; but before I describe our journey through 
Wales, I want to devote a little more space to the unique old fishing 
village of Clovelly. It is so particularly rich in pictures, so full of 
color and of character, that I desire to devote one letter to this 
subject alone. It is, moreover, the country made interesting by 
Charles Kingsley in "Westward Ho," and he refers to it particularly 
in his great book. 




Clovelly 




High Street, Clovelly. 



FOURTH LLTTLR 



CLOVLLLY 




N MY letter from "The Land of the Doones/' 
I made but a brief reference to Clovelly, as 
space did not permit of further description 
there though the subject itself well deserved 
more extended attention. 

Clovell}^ is probably the most pic- 
turesque village of Devon, if not of all rural 
England, and I desire to devote an entire 
chapter to it, as mentioned in my preceding 
letter. It is decidedly the c[uaintest and 
most unusual little village which I have yet 
seen or photographed in any of my journeys 
and is a veritable paradise for artists and 
photographers. 
This little fishing town lies in a narrow and richly wooded 
valley or "combe," as they call it here, high above the sea, near the 
mouth of Bristol Channel, and it descends abruptly to the water's 
edge along a single narrow street, or rather a main stairway of 
stones, with perhaps a hundred cottages and cabins climbing on 
each side of the combe as far as the narrow space allows. 

The cozy little houses themselves, each standing on a higher, 
or a lower, level than its neighbor, are all neatly whitewashed, with 
gray-green doors and lattices, and are almost literally covered with 
flowering vines and brightly colored blossoms. The efl'ect of the 
little village, as a whole, is strikingly unusual, foreign-like, and 
picturescjue. I was fortunate enough to be here while the roses 
were in bloom, and I can never forget the charm or the beauty of 
the place. We came to Clovelly intending to spend the day, as most 
tourists do, but stayed on and on under the c[uaint spell of the little 



45 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Clovelly. 

hamlet. No wonder that Charles Kingsle}^ loved his Clovelly, or 
that one lady, whose name I saw in the guest book of our little cot- 
tage, had returned to it every summer for twenty-one years. 

I never longed so for the ability to work in color as I did at 
Clovelly. The June roses — pink, yellow, and white, — were in full 
bloom, and the little village was literally ablaze with color. My 
poor little black and white photographs give but a feeble idea of the 
charm of the place, particularly at this time; but small as they are 
I have selected a few of them to illustrate this letter. 

The frontispiece picture to this letter shows the main, or High, 
street of the village and gives some idea of the little place as a 
whole. This particular photograph is so much better than the one 
I made of the same subject that I select it for reproduction in 
preference to my own. The donkeys had been placed just right 
by my predecessor ! One of the best views, however, is looking 
down this main stairway, to the sea, which, far below, serves with 
the sky as a background to the scene. An even better picture is the 
one from the quay, or best of all, from the harbor (if the sea is 



46 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




The Entrance to the Town. 



calm) which shows the wharf in the foreground (or rather in the 
forewater) and the village high above. The first illustration which 
I show was made from the pier as the sea was too rough to photo- 
graph it from the water. 

The foundations of the cottages on the water-front at this, 
the lower end of the hamlet, are hewn out of the living rock. This 
part of the town is very old, its name appearing in Domesday, and 
some authorities assert that there was a Roman station here even 
earlier than that. It is the only harbor in Bideford Bay, west of 
the Taw, and has been an important fishing place for a very long 
time. 

The oldest inhabitant, who says he is ninety-four years of age 
(and he certainly looks it), claims that the present village is seven 
hundred years old. He has many wonderful tales to relate of his 
hairbreadth escapes by sea and land, and of those who did not 
escape. Every year many brave fishermen and sailors lose their 
lives on this perilous coast. My photograph of "The Entrance to 
the Town," shows this interesting old seaman in his favorite resting 
place at the foot of the main stairway, near the Red Lion Inn. 

47 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




The Rose Cottage. 

The old man seemed to take great pride in the fact that he 
never went to school, "except," as he said, "to Charles Kingsley's 
Sunday School." Kingsley was rector of Clovelly parish at one 
time and a married daughter of his lives here in summer at the 
present time. He told me, also, but somewhat confidentially, to be 
sure, that he personally thought "Mr. Kingsley loved riding, sailing, 
hunting, and fishing, better than he loved preaching," but that he 
did all equally well. "Oh, you should have seen him jump a fence," 
he exclaimed in his enthusiasm, as his memory recalled the old 
times, "he never opened a gate or climbed a wall, but always vaulted 
or jumped over them." 

Mr. Kingsley himself speaks as follows of Clovelly in his great 
book of "Westward Ho": 

"And even such are those delightful glens, which cut the high 
table-land of the confines of Devon and Cornwall, and opening each 
through its gorges of down and rock, towards the boundless West- 



48 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

ern Ocean. Each is like the other, and each is Hke no other Enghsh 
scenery. Each has its upright walls, inland of rich oak-wood, 
nearer the seas of dark furze, then of smooth turf, then of weird, 
black cliffs which range out right and left far into the deep sea, in 
castles, spires, and wings of jagged iron-stone. Each has its nar- 
row strip of fertile meadow, its crystal trout stream winding across 
and across from one hill-foot to the other, its gray stone mill, with 
water sparkling and humming round the dripping wheel ; its dark 
rock pools above the tide mark, where the salmon-trout gather in 
from their Atlantic wanderings after each autumn flood ; its ridge 
of blown sand, bright with golden trefoil and crimson lady's finger; 
its gray bank of polished pebbles down which the stream rattles 
towards the sea below. Each has jts jagged shark-tooth rock, which 
paves the cove from side to side, streaked with here and there a 
pink line of shell sand, and laced with white foam from the eternal 
surge, stretching in parallel lines out to the westward, in strata set 
upright on edge, or tilted towards each other at strange angles by 
primeval earthquakes ; — such is the 'Mouth' — as those coves are 
called; and such the jaw of teeth which they display, one rasp of 
which would grind abroad the timbers of the stoutest ship. To 
landward, all richness, softness, and peace; to seaward, a waste 
and howling wilderness, of rock and roller, barren to the fisherman, 
and hopeless to the ship-wrecked mariner." 

The initial letter illustration shows where we lived at Clovelly. 
The cozy little cottage is really a converted barn, the kitchen being 
where the stable formerly was, and our rooms were in the hay loft 
overhead. From King Charles' royal bed-chamber at Henley, to 
the hay loft of a barn in Clovelly, is cjuite a descent, to be sure ; but 
our windows here looked out over the sea, and the place was pro- 
fusely overgrown with rose vines and fuchsias, so that it was a 
veritable flowery bower, as cozy and comfortable a nest as one's 
heart could desire for dreamless sleep after a long day with the 
camera on sea and land. 

Another picture shows the Rose Cottage where the old seaman 
lived, with his bench before it in the sun and my daughter standing 

49 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

near it ; while the last illustration gives a glimpse of a side stairway, 
branching off from the main one. I made many snapshots while 
here, on this main stairway and the "Back stairs," on the quay of 
the harbor, and on the sea ; but I have already occupied all the space 
I should take for one of these letters. Next month we are going to 
Wales, where we shall make a tour en-auto through this wild and 
picturescjue country of the north, and from there, accordingly, I 
shall despatch my next letter. 




A Side Stairway. 



Motoring in Wales 




FIFTH LLTTLR 

MOTORING IN WALL5 

T IS only a short trip by steamer 
across the Bristol Channel, from Lyn- 
mouth, in North Devon, to the city of 
Cardiff, in Wales. Here excellent 
railroad connections can be made for 
Chester, which lies on the border be- 
tween England and North Wales, 
where the wildest and most pictur- 
Lianberis Pass. cscjue country is to bc seen. 

A convenient and comfortable way to tour in Wales is by 
motor, and Chester is the most accessible starting point. Ac- 
cordingly we procured an automobile there and made an early start 
for the border. We passed the extensive park of Eton Hall, which 
is one of the seats of the wealthy young Duke of Westminster, 
crossed the river Dee, and we were soon in Wales, touring along 
excellent country roads which abound in picturesque scenery on 
either hand. 

Our first stop was at Bala, where we stayed for lunch ; then 
a drive around the lovely lake at Bala, and we proceed on our way, 
over a wild mountain pass, shrouded in mist, to the little Welsh vil- 
lage of Festiniog. Here another stop was made (to repair a 
punctured tire), and we arrived at the unic[ue mountain resort of 
Bettws-y-Coed (don't try to pronounce it!) where we put up for 
the night. 

Referring to the pronunciation of Welsh names it may be in- 
teresting to know that they are spoken not at all as they are spelled, 
difficult as it would be to do that! For instance, when a word 
begins with two I's, as often happens, it is pronounced as if spelled 
with a fJil, e. g. Llangollen is spoken as if spelled Thlangotlilcn, 

53 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Conway Castle. 

Llandudno is spoken Tlilandidno, the 7/ being- pronounced as i; and 
Bettws-y-Coed (which means The Chapel in the Woods), is pro- 
nounced as if spelled Betfoosycoed. 

The next day we drove along the picturesque Swallow River, 
past the Falls, a picture of which I made in passing, and on to the 
famous Llanberis Pass, at the highest point of which I made an- 
other picture which is shown in the initial letter illustration. 

We must pause at this height, — Gorphwysfa, they call it in 
Welsh — the resting-place. On either side of the road are great 
jagged masses of rock that have fallen in bygone times from the 
hills above. Away in the rear you can trace the long valley, with 
its road winding around the hillside, going towards Beddgelert. 
That road offers one of the finest motoring or coaching drives in 
the British Islands. To the left ahead, Snowdon, with its triple 



54 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




5wallow Falls. 



head, towers up. To the right is the commanding height of 
Glyder-fawr, within less than three hundred feet of equal height to 
Snowdon itself. Beyond are other hills of every shape and size, 
impressive, fantastic, grotesque. Straight ahead to the side of 
Llanberis village are the beautiful twin lakes, Llyn Padarn and 
Llyn Peris. 

55 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Welsh Landscape near Chester. 

But how is one to describe Snowdon? I might quote Tal- 
fourd's pen-picture: "Of the four British mountains which pos- 
sess the most powerful influence upon the imagination, Snowdon, 
Cader-Idris, Helvellyn, and Ben Nevis, each has its own attributes. 
* * * Of these mountains Snowdon forms beyond comparison 
the noblest aggregate, because, except on the side opposite Car- 
narvon, its upper portion is all mighty framework, a top uplifted 
on vast buttresses, disdaining the round lumpish earth, spreading 
out skeleton arms towards heaven, and embracing on each side huge 
hollows, made more awful by the red tints of the copper ore which 
deepens among the shadows and gleams through the scanty herbage 
of its loveliest pathways." 

As we approach this majestic mountain, we find it wreathed in 
mist and crowned with clouds, as it usually is, so photographing was 
out of the c[uestion. The full page picture of Snowdon which 
illustrates this letter, as frontispiece, I obtained at a shop in Wales. 
It is an excellent print, by G. P. Abraham, showing the summit from 
the Pinnacles. 



56 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




The Old Castle at Hawarden. 

We now pursue our way down Llanberis Pass which has 
justly been called the "Chamounix of Wales," for it reveals the 
grandest scenery in the principality. For miles you pass between 
the loftiest mountains in Wales. For miles you do not pass a single 
house, or see a human being. Sturdy Welsh sheep alone clamber 
amid the boulders and the crags. There is a grand solemnity 
brooding over the place, and one receives here a vivid impression 
of the sublimity of Nature, untouched and untouchable, a sense of 
the infinite which swallows up one's petty humanity in an overpower- 
ing sentiment of awe. Contemplating Nature in this mood one may 
well repeat the old question, "What is man that Thou art mind- 
ful of him, or the son of man * * >i^ ?" 

From Llanberis we motored to Carnarvon, where the grand 
old castle which Edward I built in 1283, still stands, majestic in its 
partial ruin. 

Here Edward II, the first Saxon Prince of Wales, was born, 



57 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Chester, the Old Wall, and King Charles' Tower. 



and he greatly strengthened and enlarged the old stronghold after 
he became king. 

But it was the picturesque ruins of Conway castle which most 
charmed us. This castle was likewise built by Edward I, a little 
later than Carnarvon, and is considered the master structure of 
his architect, Henry de Ebreton, who also designed Carnarvon, 
Beaumaris, and other castles in Wales. and England. Edward was 
himself beleaguered here by the Welsh, and was hard put to it, too, 
for a time, for the river Conway was so swollen that his English 
reinforcements could not cross over. But, as an old narrative has 
it, "the foaming flood subsided," and Edward was succored by his 
Englishmen. Hawthorne says in his English notes: "Nothing 
can ever have been so perfect in its own style, and for its own pur- 
poses, when it was first built; and now nothing else can be sO per- 
fect as a picture of ivy-grown peaceful ruin." Our picture of Con- 
way Castle is by Chidley, of Chester, successor to our old friend, 
G. Watmough Webster, of that ancient city. This picture is un- 

58 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

avoidably marred by the modern suspension bridge which crosses 
the Conway River at this place. It cannot be avoided, nor can it be 
eliminated, but it is obviously out of keeping with the antiquity of 
the castle ruins. 

We motor on to Llandudno, perhaps the most fashionable 
watering place of Wales, where we make a brief stop. And then 
we pass out of the mountainous scenery entirely and tour along 
through smiling fields and past pleasant home-like cottages. The 
tail piece to this letter is a fair illustration of the latter, and the 
little landscape near Chester, which we are now approaching, is 
typical of the country near that old city. 

But before we enter Chester again we visit Hawarden (pro- 
nounced Harden), which w^as the seat of Gladstone, in Wales, and is 
now in possession of his son. The house is modern and so lacks 
the picturescjue cjualities of the old castle, which is in ruins, over- 
grown with ivy, and rising in dignified desolation from a bank of 
luxuriant herbage. 

Chester itself, though not in Wales, is too interesting and 
picturescjue a city to pass over without a mention or an illustration. 




PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

As a matter of fact I made many pictures here, of its fine old 
cathedral and the ruined Abbey adjacent; of its encircling wall, 
with the ruins of its Roman earth works and fortifications; of its 
quaint old English shops, and the "Rows" above them; but we have 
space here for one only, and I have selected for the purpose a section 
of the old wall near King Charles' Tower. Here that ill-fated 
ruler is said to have stood and witnessed the defeat of his royal 
troops on Rowton Moor in 1645. ^ picture of the cathedral 
is included in another letter which I write about English 
Cathedrals, a little later. But before we visit them we expect to 
make a coaching trip through the English Lake country en route to 
Scotland, and in my next letter I shall describe that interesting trip. 




60 



Coaching Through the English 
Lake Country 




u 



51XTH LLTTLR 




Wythburn Church. 



COACHING THROUGH THE, ENGLISH LAKL COUNTRY 

IROM Chester we journeyed by rail to 
Windermere, which is the largest 
and, in some respects, the most beau- 
tiful of all the English Lakes. Here 
w^e spent the night, and the next 
morning, before our coach started 
from the hotel, I made the acquaint- 
ance of a fine type of the old school 
landscape photographer from whom 
I obtained some excellent prints of 
Windermere and other lakes. It was 
well I did so, for the rain which usually falls, some time at least, 
during every day in English Lakeland, made no exception of this 

day, and I was unable to make a single exposure here. Mr. 

was a friend of John Ruskin, in his later years, and had some in- 
teresting intimate photographs of the famous author, inscribed to 
him in autograph. 

At Keswick, on Derwentwater, I was fortunate enough to fall 
in with Mr. G. P. Abraham, the distinguished English landscape 
photographer, who has made a specialty of Lake and Mountain sce- 
nery. From Mr. Abraham I obtained the photographs illustrating this 
letter which are credited to him, and many courtesies as well, which 
I gratefully acknowledge. 

The English Lake Country, beautiful as it certainly is, perhaps 
did not quite fulfil our anticipations of it from the pictorial point of 
view. Its charm is so largely due to the poetic and literary asso- 
ciations of the great authors who have made this country their 
home, that the American traveler is likely to feel some slight dis- 



63 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Copyrighted by 



Rydal Mount, Wordsworth's House. G. P. Abraham, Photo.. Keswick. 



appointment that the Lakes and Fells are not more impressive in 
themselves. 

The country undoubtedly has a certain mild and pleasant 
beauty of its own, apart from the glamor of romance and poetry 
which English men of genius have shed upon this land ; but the lakes 
seem rather tame in their aspect, and scarcely to justify in them- 
selves the rhapsodies of praise which the poets have bestowed upon 
them, or the reputation which they have enjoyed for great pictur- 
esqueness. If it were possible to remove from the landscape the 
literary associations which are so inextricably interwoven through- 
out this pleasant countryside, I apprehend that these lakes and hills 
would be but mildly enjoyed for the scenery which they afford. 

It is, however, impossible not to feel the charm of association 
with which the gentle Wordsworth and the philosophic Ruskin have 
imbued this place, not to mention such well known and loved writers 
as De Quincey and Coleridge, Sir Walter Scott, Tennyson, Robert 
Southey, and Harriet Martineau. 

65 




Copyrighted by 



Old Mill at Ambleside. G. P. Abraham, Photo., Keswick. 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Copyrighted by 



" Brantwood," Ruskin's House at Coniston. 



G. P. Abraham, 

Photo., Keswick. 



Rydal Mount, on Rydal Water, where lived "The Laureate of 
the Fells," as Wordsworth has been called, has a charm and interest 
all its own from the fact of his long residence there. But Rydal 
Water itself would scarcely be called a lake in this country, so small 
and inconspicuous is it. The exquisite beauty of "The Clouds" and 
"The Mountain Echo," is bound to invest with charm, however, the 
spot where such noble poems were composed. Thus is the poet 
described by one who visited him in this house on Rydal Water : 

"He took me by the hand in a way that did me good. There 
was welcome in his words and looks, as well as in the shake of his 
hand, and in less than five minutes he was taking me round his fairy 
dwelling-place and pointing out to me the most striking objects of 
the beautiful and glowing scenes around. He was rather tall and 
thin, with a countenance somewhat pale, and more thoughtful than 
joyous. Simple and courteous in his demeanor, and frank in his 

67 




Copyrighted by 



Great Gable— The Needle Arete. G. P. Abraham, Photo., Keswick. 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Yewbarrow, Wast Water. 

remarks, he made me feel at ease. * * * 'w\ might find these 
secluded temples of beauty, but all will not give themselves the 
trouble to seek them,' he said." 

The same is true of Brantwood, on Lake Coniston, where 
Ruskin lived, as well as the other haunts and places made famous 
in English Lakeland by England's men of letters. There are 
fifteen lakes in all, though all are not well known or often visited. - 

We coached from Windermere, in the morning, past Grasmere 
and Rydal Water to Derwent Water; in the afternoon driving 
around the latter lake to Keswick, where we later took train for the 
Scottish Border. We visited the falls of Lodore, celebrated by 
Southey's rather jingling rhymes, and made several pleasant side 
excursions, which, however, were rendered photographically un- 
fruitful by the inclemency of the weather. 



69 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

The frontispiece to this letter is an extended view of Coniston 
Lake taken from Beacon Craig by Mr. Abraham. It is fairly 
characteristic of the English Lakes, showing the surromiding hills, 
the trees, the occasional house, and the winding coach road. 
Coniston has been called "a Miniature Windermere." "The Home 
of the Swans," also by Abraham, is on Windermere, near Wray 
Castle, and is a most beautiful photograph, as it seems to me. 

The initial letter illustration is of Wythburn Church, situated 
on a bleak hillside about half way between Windermere and Kes- 
wick. It is said to be the smallest church edifice in England, and on 
that account is often humorously referred to as "The Cathedral." 

I procured from Mr. Abraham the excellent picture of "Brant- 
wood," which was Ruskin's home for so many years at Coniston; 
and also the view of "Rydal Mount," where W^ordsworth lived near 
Rydal Water. The Old Mill at Ambleside is also one of Abraham's 
artistic productions, as well as the Derwent Bridge, showing the 
picturescjue lake cattle in the foreground with the mountains well 
outlined in the distance. I consider this a particularly fine ex- 
ample of landscape photography. 

But Mr. Abraham has made his greatest reputation, perhaps, 
in photographing mountains. We have space left in this letter for 
but a single illustration of mountain scenery. If the lakes are con- 
sidered by some as only mildly beautiful, the mountains are certainly 
very picturesque and impressive. They are wild, craggy, and bar- 
ren; and while not so very high as measured from the sea level, 
they, nevertheless, rise so precipitously in many instances, from the 
valleys and plains below, that they create the impression of being 
much higher than they really are. The excellent full page picture 
of "Great Gable," is a good illustration of this. Another picture 
shows the fine dome of Yewbarrow at Wast Water, which is said 
to be the deepest of all the English Lakes. 



71 



In Scotland 



5LVLNTH LLTTLR 



IN SCOTLAND 




Abbotsford. 



E JOURNEYED by rail from Keswick, in 
the English Lake country, to Edinburgh, the 
capital of Scotland. The rain which had 
prevailed for the most part in English Lake- 
land followed us north, and continued for a 
day or two after we arrived in bonnie Scot- 
land. So w^e remained snugly established in 
Midlothian until the skies brightened again, 
which they shortly did. 

Then we visited the ancient castle on 
the hill overlooking the city, and photo- 
graphed it; drove about the interesting- old 
city, photographing its splendid monuments 
and its extensive public gardens, made snapshots on Princes street, 
and spent a most delightful afternoon at Holyrood Palace, the 
former residence of the Scottish Kings. 

The rooms of Mary Queen of Scots are still preserved sub- 
stantially as they were used by that ill-fated Princess ; so too are the 
apartments of Lord Darnley, one of her husbands, and the father of 
King James Sixth of Scotland, and the first of the royal house of 
Stuart to reign over England.- Here was the scene of the cruel 
murder of Rizzio, the Italian favorite of Queen Mary, and they 
show you the spot in the vestibule of the audience chamber where 
he expired. Holyrood Abbey, which adjoins the palace, is now a 
picturesque ruins, and makes a very good photograph in the soft 
light of late afternoon. My picture shows the Castle, the Palace, 
and the ruins of the Abbey, with the mountain called "Arthur's 



Seat" in the background. 



75 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 





Holyrood Palace and Arthur's Seat. 

The next day we started on our trip through the Highlands of 
Scotland, going first to Stirling, by rail, where we saw the fine old 
castle, memorable to all readers of Scottish history, and particularly 
to readers of that favorite of our youth, the romantic "Scottish 
Chiefs," By rail on to Aberfoyle, where we took coach for the 
Trossachs and the world-famous lochs and mountains of the Scot- 
tish Highlands. 

While waiting for the grooms to change horses at Aberfoyle I 
made the pretty Brig o' Forth, with Crag Mohr for a background. 

Now we are in the romantic country of Rob Roy and of 
Scott's ballads and historical romances. The coach road follows 
in full sight of the scenes and places made classic and interesting 
by the immortal works of Sir Walter Scott. We see where Fitz 
James' "gallant gray" falls exhausted in "the chase" which opens 
"The Lady of the Lake." 

"Wo worth the chase, wo worth the day. 
That cost thy life, my gallant gray!" 



76 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




The Trossachs, " Where Twines the Path." 

Then the road passes on through the famous Trossachs "where 
twines the path" to lovely Loch Katrine. I give a half page picture 
of the former, and though the Silver Strand in the latter is now 
partially submerged by the rising waters of the lake, it made so 
beautiful a picture, at its best, that I procured a print of it from a 
local shop. 

At Loch Katrine we leave the coach for a pretty little lake 
steamer, and pass around beautifully wooded Ellen's Isle, to the 
other end, where we take coach again and journey on to picturesque 
Loch Lomond. There we embark once more on a lake steamer 
and sail down to Balloch, amid the most beautiful and impressive 
scenery of the Scottish Highlands, as it seemed to me. 

But it must be remembered here as in English Lakeland, that 
all these scenes are enhanced in the imagination of the beholder by 
the glamor of poetry, romance, and history, which is so intimately 
associated with them; and they cannot be judged apart from this as- 



77 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Brig o' Forth and Crag Mohr. 

sociation. The Trossachs, for instance, are indeed truly beautiful, 
particularly when seen, as we saw them, on a bright sunny day, in 
July, with lovely shadows cast on the roadway by the oak leafage 
which almost arches the road in places. They are not more beauti- 
ful, however, than the drive from the Profile House, in the Fran- 
conia Notch of our own White Mountains, down the Profile brook 
valley to the Flume; nor are the scenes which we pass in the Tros- 
sachs more interesting in themselves than the Great Stone Face on 
Mt. Cannon, the lovel}^ 'Emerald" Basin, the mysterious "Pool," 
and the remarkable "Flume," at the end of the drive. 

At Inversnaid, on Loch Lomond, the light was just right for 
photographing the falls which tumble into the loch at this place. 
About a mile from here is the famous cave of Rob Roy, and further 
down the loch, his "Prison." So we steam on past lovely wooded 
isles, with vistas of dim mountain peaks opening in the distance, for 
twenty miles or more, till we come to Balloch, at the extreme lower 
end of the lake, where we take train for Glasgow, and here we re- 
main for the night. 



78 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




A Highland Cottage. 

The Steamer trip from Glasgow down the interesting Clyde, 
past the vast shipping of this, the second city of the United King- 
dom, is full of pictures. We pass through the noted Crinan Canal, 
and on to Oban, where a stop is made for the next night. 

The picture of Oban harbor, showing the yachts riding at their 
anchors, with the pretty village itself in the background, was made 
at nine o'clock in the evening, while the sun was still above the sea, 
though near the western horizon. It lighted the harbor with that 
peculiar golden illumination which is so lovely a characteristic of 
this hour of the day in the far north. On this evening the twilight 
lingered till long after ten o'clock. I wrote by my window till ten, 
without artificial light, and went to bed while the sea and sky were 
still bright. Then the anchor lights of the yachts were set, one by 
one, and glimmered across the harbor like the first stars of evening. 

The famous islands of Staffa and lona are within a day's sail 
of Oban, the former being the site of the celebrated Fingal's Cave, 
and the latter contains the tombs of many of the early Scottish, Irish, 
and Norwegian Kings. 



79 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 






Oban Harbor by Twilight. 



The next day we pursue our journey through the extensive 
and very beautiful Caledonian Canal to Inverness in the extreme 
North of Scotland. Here we- make another stop, and the next day 
return by rail to the interesting City of Edinburgh. 

Edinburgh is so full of literary and historic interest, and is 
withal so beautiful a modern city that we were extremely loth to 
leave it. The New Town has been growing and mellowing for a 
hundred years ; there are memorials of the Old Town that have been 
aging for eight centuries. 

We strolled once more along the magnificent Princes street, 
with its extensive public gardens on one side, from which rises the 
lofty monument to Sir Walter Scott, in Gothic impressiveness. This 
majestic avenue is probably the most beautiful city street in the 
British Isles, and is alone worth a visit to Edinburgh. 

And there is the ancient castle in the background "rooted in a 
garden," as Stevenson has described it, "One of the most satis- 
factory crags in nature — a Bass rock upon dry land, rooted in a 
garden, shaken by passing trains, carrying a crown of battlements 

80 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

and turrets, and describing its warlike shadow over the HveHest and 
brightest thoroughfare of the new town. It dominates the whole 
countryside from water and land." 

But we have other places of equal interest and beauty to visit 
ere we leave Scotland. There is Melrose Abbey, probably the most 
picturesque ruins in the whole Island, to be seen, and to them I 
gladly devote a whole page. Then there is Abbotsford nearby, the 
stately home of dear old Sir Walter, and still in possession of his 
descendants. The initial letter illustration gives us a glimpse of 
that. I visited and photographed also the beautiful old ruins of 
Dryburgh Abbe}^ where Sir Walter lies buried with his kindred, 
and the tail-piece to this letter is a pretty group of cottages at St. 
Boswell's, near this old Abbey. 

Though the rain and dull weather interfered with our photo- 
graphing in Scotland considerably, the climatic conditions there are 
nevertheless responsible for much of the charm of Scotch scenery. 
The gray mists soften and sufifuse the colors on the hillsides, and 
give great variety and beauty to the country and the town. It is, 
as another has sympathetically described it: "Grey! why, it is grey, 
or grey and gold, or grey and gold and blue, or grey and gold and 
blue and green, or grey and gold and blue and green and purple, 
according as the heaven pleases and you choose your ground ! But 
take it when it is most sombrely grey, where is another such grey 
city?"* 

And who, having once seen the glory of the wild Scotch hills 
when the purple heather bloom transfigures them, can ever forget 
the transcending beauty of the scene. A little unsigned poem which 
appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette about the time of our visit to 
Scotland suggests the spirit of the landscape so faithfully, its color 
and subtle charm, that I conclude this letter by repeating the stanzas. 

They are entitled: — 



'The City of Edinburgh. 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

THL HLATHLR HILL5. 

Oh, the sheen of the heather hills, in lovely splendor lying 
Against the far blue skyline, long slopes of amethyst. 

Oh, the sweep of the bracken feUs where lonely curlew's crying 
O'er dusky green and amber, and heather's purple mist. 

Oh, the light on the heather hills, the long rays softly falling. 
Where whin and whortleberry are tangled gold and blue, 

Oh, the gray and silver plovers by gray boulders calling, calling, 
And the thyme in purple tussocks with its breath of honeydew. 

Oh, the peace of the heather hills, like stairs to Heaven leading. 
With naught between but God's blue sky, God's mighty rushing 
wind, 
Oh, who could climb those purple heights and go their way un- 
heeding. 
Without a thought of new glad life, old sorrows left behind? 




Cottages near St. Boswells. 



82 



Lnglish Cathedrals 




E-ly Cathedral, West Tower. 





Canterbury Cathedral. 



LIGHTH LLTTLR 



ENGLISH CATHLDRALS 



OST of the famous English Cathedrals are 
situated in the inland cities or towns of Cen- 
tral England, in the east, between the Scot- 
tish Border and London; and the principal 
ones may, therefore, very conveniently be 
seen on the way from Edinburgh, the capi- 
tal of the North, to London, the great me- 
tropolis of the British Empire. 
Exeter Cathedral, it is true, is situated in the city of that 
name in Devonshire, of which it is the capital, in the southwestern 
part of England; and it is distinguished for its magnificent West 
Front, which is probably the most beautiful of all. Chester Cathe- 




York Minster from the City Wall. 



85 




Durham Cathedral. 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 








York Minster Towers. 

dral I have already mentioned in a former letter, though its picture 
I reserved for this; and Canterbury we saw and photographed on 
our way from Dover, where we disembarked, on our first trip to 
London. Majestic St. Paul's and beautiful old Westminster will 
be given in the following letter about London. 

On our return trip from Edinburgh to London, after seeing 
and photographing the lovely old ruins of Melrose and Dryburgh 
we stopped first at Durham and visited the fine old Norman cathe- 
dral in that interesting historic town. 

The first structure was erected here by the Monks in the Tenth 
Century as a resting-place for the remains of St. Cuthbert; and 
they were probably attracted to the place by its capability of de- 



87 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Interior of Lincoln Cathedral. 

fence, situated, as it is most grandly, on the high, precipitous banks 
of the Wear. For this reason Durham has no western portal, and 
in this respect is unique among English cathedrals. It also has 
nine altars which is another unique feature of this cathedral. I 
give a picture showing the two noble eastern towers. 

From Durham we went on to the ancient City of York where 
probably the most impressive cathedral, all things considered, is 
located. Our initial letter illustration gives a distant view of this 
cathedral, taken from the old city wall, which is shown in the fore- 
ground ; and the half page picture shows the beautiful minster near 
at hand. 

This cathedral is even older than Durham, the earliest church 
on this site dating back to the Eighth Century. It is considered the 
finest example of the decorated style in England, ornament being 



88 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




York Minster. 



nowhere spared, yet a simplicity obtaining, which is peculiarly 
pleasing. In its original stained glass windows York also excels 
all other English cathedrals; the oldest and most beautiful, the 
"Jesse Window," dating back to about 1200. The great east win- 
dow is interesting owing to its enormous size, being second in that 
respect only to the window in Gloucester. In this cathedral, too, 
in the north transept, are the famous "Five Sisters," so-called, 
being five very beautiful old windows, each fifty feet high by about 
five feet in width. 

Lincoln Cathedral was particularly interesting to us. In the 
first place it has such a good name ! and then it is probably the most 
beautifully located cathedral in England. It crowns the hill on 
which the old city was built, and seemed to us to be the finest church 

89 



. t.'/f 



ts '.■. 










'.h.- Vi 




Central Tower and North Transept, Lincoln Cathedral. 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Chester Cathedral from the Churchyard. 

edifice in all of Great Britain. Other cathedrals may equal or even 
surpass Lincoln in certain respects ; but, in the combination of size 
with delicacy of detail, effectiveness of both exterior and interior, 
good preservation, with the grandeur of its location, Lincoln stands 
without rival. The famous Lincoln "Imp" is here graven in stone, 
about which so many legends and traditions cluster. Our full page 
picture of Lincoln shows the impressive Central Tower, while the 
smaUer one may give a faint idea, perhaps, of the beauty and deli- 
cacy of the interior structure and decoration. 

The Towers of Ely Cathedral may be seen for miles, as you 
approach it, because of the flatness of the surrounding country. 
And as you draw near, the fine old trees in the park about it shade 
and soften its impressive outlines in a most picturesque and satis- 
fying manner. The minster itself is of a design unlike any other 
in England. It is one of the largest and most imposing, "the most 



91 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

individual," as Mrs. Van Rensselaer says, and the most varied. It 
certainly offers many picturesque subjects for the camera, in its 
beautiful park setting", and many were the pictures which I made 
of it. The castellated West Tower, which suggests military rather 
than ecclesiastical architecture, I show in the full page illustra- 
tion accompanying, but I really think the more distant view of the 
cathedral from the park, rising as it does above the fine old Eng- 
lish oaks surrounding it, is a better picture from the pictorial point 
of view, though it naturally shows less of the minster itself. I like 
to recall my last view of this imposing old pile rising through the 
trees to the fair summer sky above them, and the well-fed sheep 
browsing lazily in the shade of the foreground. 

From Ely we went on to the University town of Cambridge and 
found this old city not less picturesque than Oxford, with which it 
is naturally often compared. The Chapel of King's College in 
Cambridge is the glory of the city as it is of the college, being easily 
the most beautiful ecclesiastical interior in the kingdom. Eailure 
of light made it impossible to photograph this fine interior, though 
we were able to get good views of the famous "Backs" of Cam- 
bridge, which are the beautiful lawns and avenues behind the col- 
leges extending to the winding river Cam. 

Then on to London, the place of our beginning, about which I 
shall write in my final letter on photographing in Old England. 




92 



London 




Nelson Monument, Trafalgar Square. 




Houses of Parliament. 



NINTH LLTTLR 



LONDON 



Empir 
There 



OW we are in London once more. 
Having- finished our tour through 
rural England, Wales, and Scot- 
land, we have completed the circle 
and have returned to the place of 
our beginning. London ! What im- 
pressions of power and of greatness 
it makes upon the minds of all who 
come within its immense sphere of 
influence. Capital of the British 

e, it seems, in a sense, to be the capital of the civilized world. 

are a dozen Londons and each city is pre-eminent in itself. 




In Rotten Row 



95 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Thames E.mbankment, from Hungerford Bridge. 

One feels here the tremendous power arising from the vast 
accumulation of wealth, typified by the impregnable walls of the 
fortress-like Bank of England. Here is the Tower of London which 
grimly recalls the stirring historical events of an interesting Past ; 
and the Abbey at Westminster, hallowed by the English dead that 
rest within its tombs. Impressive St. Paul's looms large above the 
city dwellings and shops, testifying to man's universal need for 
religious expression, even in the very heart of the world's greatest 
commercial city. The Parliament Buildings with their ancient his- 
torical associations ; the Thames, and its magnificent embankment, 
on which they so grandly stand; the river's beautiful bridges, and 
its busy shipping; the markets, the public places, the thronging 
thoroughfares; all proclaim the great metropolis. 

Then there is the Great Museum, with the scarcely lesser 
museums, the libraries, and the art galleries, stored as they are 
with some of the world's greatest historical, literary, and art treas- 
ures; the Royal Opera House, the theatres, and the hotels. Prob- 



96 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




J i- III 




Westminster Abbey. 

ably the most extensive and best-managed rapid transit system in 
the world is here, with its more than two hundred stations within 
the city's limit. Police and Fire Departments that are pre-eminent 
in efficiency. Horse and motor omnibuses that take you anywhere 
from everywhere. Shops that are a delight (to the ladies) ! And 
a system of public parks and gardens that occupies fully one-tenth 
the total area of the city. 

It is good to learn that the largest and finest of these parks are 
royal gifts to the City of London and its people, who are allowed 
untrammeled use of them. Here the children of the poor may 
sprawl on the grass and play contentedly. In the ponds and stream- 
lets, beside which, in the old days, Kings sauntered, the youngsters 
of the slums fish with bent pins or scoop with small nets for stickle- 
backs. There is a delightful social suavity which knows no tyranny 
and needs none. The rangers are the friends of the people, and I 
noticed one the other day helping a little kiddie to a patch where 



97 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




St. Paul's Cathedral. 

daisies might be picked for daisy chains, then guiding another to a 
good fishing spot. Some one has said that these parks alone are 
sufficient to justify the institution of monarchy. 

The bird hfe here is glorious. The trees are all a-twitter 
with songsters. In the ponds and streams a gorgeous variety of 
water fowl display themselves — giant white pelicans, black swans 
from Australia and white swans of England, all manner of ducks 
and geese and teal. Children bring crumbs and feed these birds, 
and also the pigeons, which in consequence reach a bloated size and 
are veritable aldermen of the pigeon world. On the meadows a 
few sheep are pastured and help to give a rural air to the landscape. 
In the larger parks deer are kept; and there you meet the only 
"don't" of these places of freedom ; the public are asked not to feed 
the deer, which might suffer from mistaken generosity. 

In a recent interview, Mr. John Burns, the laboring man's 
member of parliament, who loves his London, speaking of its parks 



98 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




London Tower and Bridge. 



said: "Look at them! I am not going to mention Battersea Park 
first because it is my electorate park, but because from its situation 
it is at once one of the most beautiful and the most useful. You 
should go on Saturday to see the cricket in Battersea Park, hun- 
dreds of little teams playing, all with real good grass pitches to play 
on. Now start from here and consider the number of parks, the 
Embankment Gardens first. Cross Whitehall and you get into St. 
James's Park. Through that and past Buckingham Palace, with- 
out a break in the green trees, you come to the Green Park. Trav- 
erse that, and by crossing one street you reach Hyde Park. Fol- 
low that on the left hand side and 3^ou come without a break to 
Kensington Gardens. Or follow it on the right and, with a brief 
break, you reach Regent's Park, and that runs into Primrose-hill, 
and there you are quite close to Hampstead Heath and Golder's 
Green ; and after them the country. I tell you, no city in the world 
has such parks." There are no fewer than 300 little squares of 
park land in London besides the big parks. And even a brief 
residence in London convinces one that Mr. Burns' contention that 
it is the cleanest, the most efficiently administered, and the most 
progressive city in the world is undoubtedly true. It does not 



99 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

make one less loyal an American to wish that our own cities were 
more like London in some of these respects. 

After photographing from the tops of omnibuses the crowded 
streets, the public fountains and monuments, I strolled into some 
of these parks and found delightful subjects abounding there. The 
grass lawns are allowed to grow to some extent and so appear more 
natural than the closely cropped turf. They are of a glowing green 
that seems to be suffused with light, and when I was there they 
were starred with the English little white daisy, not half the size 
of our own. These were in such profusion as to make a kind of 
Milky Way on a firmament of emerald green. 

On another day I followed on horseback the bridle path that 
winds beneath the trees, from park to park. The equestrian pic- 
ture of the writer with his little riding companion which serves as 
an initial letter illustration to this article was made in famous 
Rotten Row, by the old photographer who has made a specialty of 
this kind of photography. He uses a plate camera, which he sets 
up in an advantageous position, where a good light falls upon his 
subject, and then, having previously focussed upon a spot in the 
road which he indicates to his subject, you pull up your horses, at 
the right place, he gives a low whistle, which invariably catches the 
attention of the animal; who raises his head, pricks up his ears, 
usually turns slightly toward the photographer, and the photog- 
rapher presses the bulb. 

On the day previous he made an excellent picture of the Prince 
of Wales as he rode by. He had photographed the Prince when he 
was a child and when opportunity offered reminded him of the fact ; 
Prince George smiled, seemed to recognize his old photographer 
and good naturedly drew up his horse to a standstill for the old man 
to make another and better picture of him. The second photograph 
was excellent, catching His Royal Highness with the smile illumi- 
nating his face (the Prince's expression is habitually melancholy), 
and his splendid saddle horse in a most alert and characteristic at- 
titude. 

lOO ''•. ] 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

And now that we have completed our journey in Old England, 
with the side excursions into Scotland and Wales, I am conscious 
of the inadequacy of my photographs, and particularly of my 
sketchily written descriptions, to suggest the real beauty and charm 
of the places we have visited. They were written for the most 
part on the trips which they describe, often at night, after a full 
day of sightseeing and photographing, and were intended as ex- 
planatory notes of the pictures which they accompany, rather than 
as adequate written descriptions in themselves. If the letters and 
the photographs recall, with pleasure, similar journeys made by the 
reader in the past ; or if they should stimulate his desire to make 
such a trip in the future (in case he has not already had such an ex- 
perience), I shall rest content. In the latter even I venture to con- 
clude with the hope that the opportunity may come quickly, and that 
it may be attended by a complete and entirely successful fulfilment. 




lOI 



In Conclusion 



IN CONCLUSION 




50ML PRACTICAL H1NT5 AND SUGGESTIONS 
FOR THL TOURIST PHOTOGRAPHER 

FEW practical suggestions, growing out of 
my experience with the camera on the trips 
which the foregoing letters describe, may 
not be unwelcomed by the reader who is con- 
templating making a similar journey. 

And first I will say a word in regard to 
the outfit. While I personally prefer glass 
plates to films for exact and deliberate 
photography, I must confess that the perfec- 
tion to which the manufacturers of films 
have brought their products, makes it dif- 
ficult for anyone to detect any difference in 
the quality of the prints which are made from film negatives from 
those that are made from glass. 

Often, indeed, there is a pleasant, soft quality that characterizes 
a print from a film negative, which is lacking in the glass negative 
print. But the convenience of the manipulation, the absence of 
weight, and the portability of films, are the chief considerations 
which should decide the tourist photographer in their favor over 
glass. 

Then, too, I have always advocated the use of a tripod for most 
photographic work, and I always carry one on my own trips with 
the camera ; but I found comparatively little use for it on the jour- 
neys described in these letters. There are a number of the illus- 
trations in this book made by timed exposures on a tripod; but I 
found it possible quite often to make a timed picture by resting my 



Ann Hathaway 's Gale. 



105 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

hand camera on a conveniently located wall, the balustrade of a 
bridge, or from a coach or motor seat; so that the tripod, compact 
and portable as it was, could, nevertheless, very largely be dispensed 
with. The convenience of a hand camera of fair size (31-4 inches 
by 5 1-2 inches) using spool film, was proved to me by experience 
on this trip, as never before. 

I always recommend the photogr-apher to do his own develop- 
ing, and even his printing, where possible; he should certainly per- 
form both operations until he is quite proficient in them ; but I know 
from experience that it is often dif^cult to do these things oneself, 
on a trip where darkrooms are infrequent, and time is limited. Ar- 
rangements by the dealers, moreover, for attending to all these 
matters for the traveling photographer are now so complete, that I 
personally took advantage of them on most occasions, and would ad- 
vise the touring amateur to do likewise. 

On most of the newer steamers excellent facilities are now pro- 
vided for the photographer. The splendid new Red Star Liner, 
"The Lapland," for instance, has a well equipped darkroom, just off 
her promenade deck where it is most convenient. It has a red and 
deep orange electric light for non-actinic illumination, a good sized 
sink, with running water, capacious shelves for trays, plateholders, 
etc., and everything to make the ways of the photographer easy. 
And on the White Star S. S. "Canopic," returning from the Medi- 
terranean, I found that one of the stewards was a pretty good 
photographer, and did developing arid printing for the amateurs on 
shipboard. 

But there are not many suitable subjects for the camera, at sea. 
In the first place, the weather conditions are not always advanta- 
geous. There is considerable mist and fog in the North Atlantic, even 
in the summer time, and often it rains real water, as it did on three 
days, at least, of our voyage to England. Of course there are the 
usual snapshots of the deck groups, etc., to be made on bright days; 
and occasionally a cloud effect at dawn or sundown, which is well 
worth attempting. The sea itself rarely makes an interesting photo- 
graph, however, there is too much foreground, or too much sky ; and 

106 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 





Lynmouth. 

withal, a certain dull monotony which it is hard to avoid, particularly 
from a steamer's deck, where you are some distance removed from 
the sea below it 

The things which I found most interesting, as subjects, for my 
camera, were the seaman, either individually or in groups of two or 
three, at their characteristic occupations, or off duty, smoking and 



107 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

spinning yarns. With a little cordage for a background, and the 
sea or sky beyond that, a typical, old salt, if taken unconsciously, 
makes a very interesting human subject. There are many strongly 
marked individual types to be found on a great Atlantic liner. The 
exposure should be instantaneous, of course; but the diaphragm 
should be rather generous — /i6 I found on the whole most suitable. 

And this leads me to the general subject of exposure, the size of 
the diaphragm, etc., on which I should like to say a few words. The 
size of the diaphragm, and the length of exposure, depend, of 
course, upon the amount of light, the time of day and of the year, 
and also upon the character of the subject, whether it be a dark or 
light object, whether the sun is shining full upon it, or from one 
side, and particularly whether it be near a body of water, in which 
case there is usually considerable light added to the subject by re- 
flection. 

There may be some guess work required in exposing the first 
roll of films in a foreign country by the beginner ; but one learns by 
one's mistakes, and the second roll is very likely to be more ac- 
curately exposed than the first one. I recommend that a small 
memorandum book be kept for the purpose of jotting down the par- 
ticulars of each exposure, as this enables one to profit by one's 
failures, as well as by one's successes. And it is an excellent plan 
to develop oneself, at least the first roll of film, in order to ascertain 
just now correctly one is diaphragming and timing one's exposures. 

I found /i 6 to be a good average. stop for the usual street scene 
and snapshot. On a particularly bright day, between the hours of 
ten and three, /32 was better. But with the latter stop, I generally 
set my shutter to expose in 1-50 of a second, while with the larger 
stop, I could use i- 100 of a second exposure. And when moving ob- 
jects were to be photographed, particularly on land, I found I nat- 
urally got much sharper figures with the latter exposure. In snapshot 
work, I usually set my focus at 100 feet, as I could generally place 
myself so as to have all the principal objects in my picture fall be- 
yond that distance, and so be in sufficiently sharp focus. The 
nearer the focus, the quicker the exposure required in order to get 

108 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Taken while it Rained. 

an equally distinct image, so one should try to take near snapshots 
on bright, days, as near noon as possible, in order that the quickest 
exposure may be sufficient. 

For timed exposures, a much smaller diaphragm can, and 
usually should, be used, as thereby greater definition is obtained, and 



T09 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

the increase of time given is partially offset by diminishing the 
quantity of light admitted through the lens. I usually stopped 
down to /64 for my timed exposures. 

Qne reason why so many of the negatives made during the 
summer vacation time prove disappointing is simply because they 
have too much light and too little shade. This is, in turn, largely 
due to the very common mistake of working too near the middle of 
the day. During July and August the light from seven to nine a. m. 
and three to five p. m. is so strong that it only requires about one 
and one half times the exposure of the midday hours. And when 
one takes into consideration the great advantag'e of a moderately 
low-down sun in giving long shadows, the extra exposure time is 
not worth considering as a detrimental factor. Moreover, it is in 
the early morning and late afternoon hours that we get the best 
atmospheric eft'ects due to haziness of the air. The moral for the 
pictorialist in August is therefore : — avoid work between nine a. m. 
and three p. m. 

And now, in conclusion, a few words in regard to the size and 
shape of the pictures, the point of view, and the method of print- 
ing. Often the best view of a subject cannot be made when the 
photographer sees it for the first time, on account of the direction 
of the light. The exposure should then be deferred until the il- 
lumination is just right, so that the best possible picture may be 
made. Hand cameras are usually of a shape that makes the up- 
right picture seem most natural to make; but there are many sui> 
jects, in fact, I think I may safely say that most subjects, par- 
ticularly landscapes, look much better in a horizontal picture. It 
is only necessary to turn the camera, and with it the finder, in order 
to make the photograph in that position. 

Study your subject first, carefully and in detail, and then de- 
cide intelligently what point of view gives the most pictorial effect; 
what lighting, whether morning or afternoon, or late twilight is most 
pleasing to the subject; and whether an upright or a horizontal 
picture is going to make the best composition. Then make your 
exposure deliberately, under just the conditions which you have 

I lO 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 




Melrose Abbey. 

decided are the best for this individual picture, even though it re- 
quires, as it frequently does, your return to the place on the fol- 
lowing day. 

When the film or plate is developed, and the picture is made, 
there is still room for considerable improvement of your picture by 
the way it is trimmed. Because the negative is a certain size and 
shape is no conclusive reason why the printed picture should be of 
exactly the same size and shape. Usually a little judicious trim- 
ming greatly improves the pictorial effect of a print, and some- 
times I have found that to ruthlessly cut away a large part of it, 
makes an effective picture of what was before rather uninteresting 
and perhaps not particularly well composed. I have even found 
that there were two interesting smaller pictures to be found in a 
single larger one. The tail piece to this chapter, for instance, was 
cut from a larger picture, which was greatly improved thereby, and, 
at the same time, gave the little picture of London Cabs, which is 
quite complete and effective in itself. 



Ill 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN OLD ENGLAND 

There is, of course, room for all kinds of taste in making the 
print. Of late the fashion seems to be, if I may use the word, for 
black and brown tones, and rather rough surfaces on the prints. 
On the whole, the present taste for matt surfaces seems to me to be 
an improvement over the highly polished print of an earlier day; 
and for most subjects, the dark brown and sepia tones are well 
adapted to the average landscape or snapshot. 

After suitably trimming and assorting your prints, mount them 
loosely on heavy sheets with liberal margins ; or, what I personally 
very much prefer, preserve them in a substantially bound album, 
with gray or soft brown tinted leaves. 




H 2i6-79 




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